YMCA Training, Inc. (Boston)

YMCA Training, Inc. helps unemployed or underemployed individuals to gain access to a full-time professional career with family-supported wages and benefits. Individuals come to YMCA Training, Inc. to take part in its 20-week-long, tuition-free program. Trainees learn office and computer skills including MS Office Suite, data entry and keyboarding, and customer service skills. Trainees pursue a specialization in one of three fields: administrative assistance, financial services/insurance, or medical office support. The workplace Business Simulations distinguish YMCA Training, Inc. from other workforce development programs. For three weeks, trainees "work" in "departments" of virtual companies, receiving customer service complaints, processing orders, managing projects, and keeping records. Volunteers and staff challenge trainees in a high-pressure environment that simulates a real workplace. Trainees are placed in an eight-week internship with a local Boston business where they learn valuable professional skills in a hands-on environment. Trainees receive coaching in the job search process throughout the entire program, through practice interviewing and resume/cover letter workshops provided by volunteers from the business world and a network of committed mentors.

YMCA Training, Inc.'s success is largely due to strong partnerships with local Boston area businesses. Businesses host job seekers as interns for 8 weeks, and hire graduates as paid full-time employees. Many employers are attracted to the program because they are able to evaluate the trainee in an eight-week internship before considering him or her as a candidate for a full-time employment. The business community trusts YMCA Training, Inc.'s program because the program stresses high standards and high performance. YMCA Training, Inc. also demands a high level of English proficiency so, many trainees choose to go through YMCA's International Learning Center before enrollment at YMCA Training, Inc.